Supplements for work in the private sector

Chapters of the article

• Work at the weekend
• Working on public holidays
• Working overtime
• Night work
• Working in difficult environments
• Working on call

Weekend work

The weekend work allowance applies to Saturday and Sunday. This applies regardless of the employee’s work schedule. He is therefore entitled to the weekend allowance even if he works a long and a short week and this is not an exceptional situation.

The amount of the weekend allowance should be at least 10% of the employee’s average earnings . However, it is possible to negotiate a different minimum amount (even lower) and method of determining the supplement, but there must be fair reasons for doing so.

If you work abroad (for a Czech employer), where the usual days off work fall on days other than Saturday and Sunday, then the weekend premium may be set on these corresponding days.

Work on public holidays

If you work on a public holiday, you are entitled to compensatory time off for that day. Your employer must give you this no later than the end of the third calendar month following the public holiday or at another pre-agreed time. Instead of compensatory time off, you can agree with your employer on an additional payment equal to your average earnings for the holiday worked. You are also entitled to this additional pay if the holiday falls on your normal working day.

So how does it work in practice? Labour Day falls on a Wednesday this year. Let’s say you work in a warehouse where work normally runs on holidays. So you work that day and are therefore entitled to a day off in lieu, which you can take until the end of July, or you can get double pay for that day worked. However, if you work in a shop that is closed on a public holiday, for example, you are entitled to be paid as if you were working normally, even if you spend the holiday at home.

The employee is entitled to the supplement only on public holidays. These include:

• Day of the Restoration of the Independent Czech State (1.1.)
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Labour Day (1.5.)
• Victory Day (8.5.)
• Day of the Slavic Heroes Cyril and Methodius (5.7.)
• Day of the Burning of Master Jan Hus (6.7.)
• Day of Czech Statehood (28.10.)
• Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy (17.11.)
• Christmas Eve (24.12.)
• First Christmas Day (25.12.)
• Second Christmas Day (26.12.)

Work overtime

First of all, it should be said that your employer cannot order you to work overtime as he or she pleases. It should only be imposed for serious reasons and cannot exceed 150 hours per calendar year or 8 hours per week. These limits can only be exceeded if your employer agrees with you and even then, overtime must not exceed 416 hours per calendar year.

For overtime, you are entitled to a minimum of 25% of your average earnings or compensatory time off corresponding to the time worked. This leave must be granted within 3 calendar months or within an agreed period of time from the time of the overtime.

TheLabour Code makes it possible to negotiate pay taking into account any overtime work. However, the extent of this overtime must be specified. In this case, you will not receive extra pay for overtime work. However, the limit of 150 hours of work per calendar year also applies here. If there is more overtime, you are entitled to an additional payment.

Night work

Night work falls under the Labour Code between 22:00 and 6:00. The amount of the night work premium should be at least 10% of the employee’s average earnings. It is possible to negotiate a different minimum amount (even lower) and method of determining the supplement, but there must be fair reasons for this.

Work in a difficult environment

The definition of a harsh working environment is: “An environment in which the performance of work involves extreme difficulty resulting from exposure to an aggravating influence and measures to reduce or eliminate it.” Aggravating influences include:

1. High concentrations of dust.
2. High concentrations of chemicals.
3. High concentrations of mixtures of chemicals with presumed addictive effects.
4. Work processes with a risk of cancer-causing substances.
5. Certain noise levels.
6. Vibration transmitted to the hands or general horizontal or vertical vibration.
7. Working environments in which the permissible microclimatic conditions (e.g. high temperatures) are exceeded, and even with the use of personal protective equipment and modification of the working regime, damage to health cannot be ruled out.

1. Working with various hazardous biological agents or their sources or vectors.
2. Increased pressure above 400 kPa, which for work below the surface corresponds to a depth of at least 40 metres.
3. Radiation activities carried out in a controlled area.
4. Work activities associated with the examination and treatment of persons hospitalised in clinical departments specialising in the treatment of infectious diseases.
5. Shift splits of at least 90 minutes in aggregate where the employee’s usual social environment and social facilities are unavailable, or their availability is significantly impaired, or the protection of the place in which the employee must spend the period of interruption of work from climatic and other adverse influences is impaired.

For these types of work, you are entitled to an allowance equivalent to at least 10 % of the basic rate of theminimum wage for the period. The basic rate of the minimum wage is set at CZK 18,900 for 2024. The supplement must therefore be at least CZK 1 890.

On-call duty

On-call duty is not a supplement as such, but in practice it is similar to it. We will therefore at least mention it in this article. On-call duty is a period of time when you are not at work, but you must be ready to go to work at any time (so you must be at home, for example, and not on a trip 100 km away from your place of work). It cannot be ordered unilaterally, you must first agree it in writing with your employer. You are then entitled to at least 10% of your average earnings for the time you spend on call.